Judge DeWine visits Sidney

DeWine seeks Ohio Supreme Court seat

SIDNEY — Judge Pat DeWine attended a breakfast Monday morning at the Shelby County area National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) to talk to local business owners about the upcoming race.

DeWine, 48, is running for the open six-year term justice seat on the Ohio Supreme Court at the polls on Nov. 8. He is hoping to replace retiring Justice Paul Pfeifer, who cannot run again due to age restrictions.

“It was great. It was a good chance to talk to local business owners about the race and hear about what issues are important to them, particularly from the litigation court standpoint,” said DeWine about the breakfast at the NFIB.

Currently, DeWine serves on the First District Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati, and is a professor of appellate litigation at the University of Cincinnati. He served as a judge on the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, was a Hamilton Board commissioner, a Cincinnati City Council member and practiced law with a large Cincinnati firm for 13 years. He had also been selected to sit by designation on the Ohio Supreme Court.

Philosophy and experience are why DeWine feels he is the best choice for the open justice seat.

“I have a judicial philosophy of being a constitutional conservative, and I believe the best place I can apply that philosophy is on the Ohio Supreme Court. It’s the court of last resort in Ohio, which means that it’s the final word for all Ohio state courts,”DeWine said.

“From an experience stand point, I am the only person running who has been both a trial court judge and a judge on the Court of Appeals,” said DeWine.

When asked how a judge should run the court, DeWine said, “I think a judge should be respectful of the people who are in front of him, as well as other judges, at the same time, it is the judge’s job to maintain order and decorum in the court room.”

“I believe judges should not legislate from the bench, but should apply the law as it is written,” DeWine said.

“I grew up working in my grandfather’s seed business and working on the family farm, so I learned early-on the value of hard work,” said DeWine about his background of growing up in the small farming community of Cedarville, Ohio.

DeWine and his wife Rhonda reside in Cincinnati and are the parents of five children. He also is the son of Ohio’s Attorney General Mike DeWine.

“I am the father of five teenagers, so I tell people I have lots of experience at adjudicating disputes that I’ll bring to the Ohio Supreme Court,” said DeWine with a chuckle.

For more information about DeWine’s campaign, visit www.patdewine.com.